Self Employed BUT CONFUSED help

janlea6

I registered as self employed on jan 5/2011 after being made redundant from my public service job.

I decided to start a dog care small business from home
and was still getiing wtc as I worked on it minimum 30 hrs a week
in last 3 months I have not had the income I need FROM BUSINESS so
now have got an office job 20hrs a week start nxt week and want to carry on with my dob business rest of time .

.the office job are willing to pay me as self employed or as staff ..but cant decide what to do will I miss out on the company staff benefits If I go in as self employed e,g bank holiday pay and holiday pay .

If I dont get enough dog business I cant afford to lose out with pay in office job ? HELP

My earning at office job are 20 hrs @ 7.70 an hr so abt £8000 a year

I need to earn about 12,000 a year to be ok

should I stay self employed or go back to how it was with the old P45 and then lose the £25 a week wtc credit as well.
ALL ADVICE APPRECIATED

Hammyman

Yes you will miss out on company staff benefits and protection you get with employment law. You will be paid more than you would be on PAYE but ultimately it is down to you to decide which is best. If they are only willing to pay you the same rate as PAYE then go on PAYE or you'll be WORSE off.

You can do both employed and self employed at the same time.

Horace

I was in the same predicament although I don't look after dogs. I was offered a part time job working 8hrs a week at £7 an hour on a self employed basis or I could become an employee on minimum wage. I decided to stay self employed because I am currently exempt from Class 2 NI and pay my own tax on profits so I invoice the client each month and the rest of the time I spend running my own business.

As a self employed person I don't get sick pay or holiday pay so don't see that working for a client is any different. Invoicing the client makes sense to me because it helps my business retain some sort of independence which is great because I can pretty much choose my hours and the days that I work..for instance this week I worked Monday and Tuesday (normally it is Tuesday afternoons and Friday mornings) but I was away on business from Wednesday through Friday.

Self employment can be tough and you don't necessarily get the clients in the first year or so as I found out although I now have some fairly big clients plus this small one where I work part time. Since becoming self employed I now work harder and longer hours than I have ever worked in my life - far more than the 30 needed to get wtc - more like 60 or 70:eek:

Only you can make the decision about whether or not to go PAYE or take the self employed option at least if you are self employed and someone else offers you another part time job then you are free to work both plus your dog business but if you go PAYE then you wouldnt be free to take up another part time plus your dog business (if that makes sense).

Remember if that if you are on low income you can still apply for housing and council tax benefit which will help with rent etc.

janlea6

thanks will talk to employer & tax office to get best options

thanks again for reply

PlutoinCapricorn

This office job for 20 hours a week sounds like employment. The employer and you can't just decide whether you work for them on a PAYE or self employed basis: you need to meet HMRC's definition. If you work how, when and where the employer tells you to, and get the same amount of money month after month, HMRC will want to know why you are not on the payroll.

janlea6

cant even get through to tax office held on for over 35 min today
just going to write and update them